German art rock innovators Can were known for creating relentlessly experimental albums boiled down from endless improvisational sessions, but they possessed a keen sensibility for writing offbeat pop songs. They released a decent amount of 45s, all of which are collected in one place for the first time on The Singles. Even though some of these selections appeared in longer form on the group's seminal albums, here they're presented as three- or four-minute edits. In the case of tracks like Tago Mago's sprawling centerpiece "Halleluwah" or the lovely riverside drift of Future Days' title track, the single version distills them to their essence, concentrating on the moments with the heaviest grooves and most up-front vocals. Of course, Can's albums contained plenty of tracks that were obvious choices for singles, and tunes like the smooth, trippy "She Brings the Rain" and the immortal funk jams "Vitamin C" and "Mushroom" are among the most memorable and instantly appealing selections in the group's sprawling catalog. Two of the group's poppiest singles even managed to become genuine chart hits at the time of their release.
The record has an interestingly stately air to it, considering Polly Eltes' breathy, quirky vocals and Michael Karoli's apparent fascination with variations on reggae rhythms (not too surprising, considering the spiritual link between Can and the output of Jamaican mixers.) The complete set would be more compelling and striking, though, if there were a little more focus – Karoli and Eltes spend quite a bit of time simply drifting into thematic hooks, leaving the listener in limbo for too long on a regular basis. When it clicks, though, it is excellent.
A Full Spoon of Seedy Blues is the fourth album by the American garage rock band, the Seeds, credited to the Sky Saxon Blues Band, and released on GNP Crescendo in November 1967.
With liner notes by Muddy Waters, a cover of Water's tune "Plain Spoken," and two titles written by Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson, the trend-conscious Sky Saxon takes his Seeds into a world far removed from punk and garage rock. This may be the only album that doesn't contain a variation of the "Pushin' Too Hard" riff, and that might not be a good thing. Six minutes and four seconds of Sky Saxon's "Cry Wolf" is too long for blues this lightweight. Saxon plays a cool harp, but his Sam the Sham-style vocals are not going to cause Buddy Guy any sleepless nights, nor would George Guy find them amusing…
Austin-based indie rock band Spoon have announced a new album called "Hot Thoughts". It will follow the band's last full length album "They Want My Soul" that was released back in 2014. Britt Daniel revealed the album name in an interview during SXSW. Spoon stay in their well-earned lane but tweak the formula just enough on their ninth album, keeping their reliably great songwriting and adding new, electronic textures.